New Report On Comparative Effectiveness Research

May 13, 2009 [Washington, DC] -- Lung Cancer Alliance participated in and endorsed the public release today of a consensus document on Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) - an issue that will become increasingly debated as healthcare reform picks up speed and Congress wrestles with cost containment. CER is intended to collect a large amount of data nationwide on varying treatments for specific conditions so that doctors and patients could make more informed decisions on the most effective care which, ideally, would help reduce the growth in healthcare costs. Concerns have been raised by LCA and others about many aspects, including how the data will be interpreted and how new technologies and targeted therapies can be allowed to flow quickly into new treatment options, especially in those diseases like lung cancer where the status quo is just not acceptable.

Friends of Cancer Research examined CER concerns in the context of cancer and made specific recommendations for improving its structure in the report issued today which can be read in full at http://focr.org/files/CER_REPORT_FINAL.pdf.

LCA President Laurie Fenton-Ambrose praised FOCR president Ellen Sigal for her leadership on tackling this complex issue. “It is important that patients and their doctors understand what CER is, how it will work and what safeguards need to be included because these will be critical issues in healthcare reform.”